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Private firms are training GPs to give telephone consultations instead of appointments to help cut down on demand.

The "telephone triage" system involves receptionists arranging for doctors to call patients back for an assessment and has been introduced at 180 surgeries.

Training company Productive Primary Care says its Doctor First system helps to save £30,000 a year per GP and already covers 730,000 patients.

The company says the telephone appointments mean the most ill people can be seen first, missed appointments are nearly eliminated and doctors and staff can work in a more productive way.

Another firm, GP Access, says GP productivity can rise 20 per cent with its "rapid and safe" service. It acknowledges there are "pitfalls" but says the 100 practices in its 12-week "launch programme" are proving the system is effective.

Doctors cannot see if [patients are] pale, jaundiced, shaking, altering their walk, if they've got a tremorDenis Pereira Gray, former president of the Royal College of GPs

Some have raised concerns over the method, warning that GPs cannot complete a full assessment without seeing patients in person.

Other concerns include that the elderly may be "fobbed off" and go to A&E instead.

Denis Pereira Gray, former president of the Royal College of GPs, told the Daily Mail there was evidence the system was "extremely worrying and upsetting for patients".

"Doctors cannot see if they're pale, jaundiced, shaking, altering their walk, if they've got a tremor – dressing differently. There are 101 things experienced GPs can see in ordinary consultations," he said.

Patients are still given an appointment if they want one regardless of the doctor's advice over the phone.

Otherwise they can act on advice, such as taking a paracetamol or resting, to overcome an illness that does not require other treatment.

Tim Farron did not want the link between GPs and their patients to be brokenCredit:
getty images

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron told the Daily Mail: "It could have advantages but I do worry if we move lock, stock and barrel to a scheme like this we will break the link between a community GP and their patient.

"This is a vital and much loved British tradition that the GP knows his patients and is at the heart of a community."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We are investing in primary care precisely to relieve pressure on the frontline, which will improve patient safety – with an extra £2.4 billion of funding, 5,000 more doctors in general practice and 1,500 more pharmacists in surgeries by 2020. We're expanding the workforce so well-resourced GPs can give even higher standards of care."